T1B

That's it - pebble-tec. I couldn't think of the term.

When you say that it's trouble, how so? Does the surface break apart or something similar?

Not ever having had one I can only go by hearsay, but it's like an exposed aggregate concrete deck (but more comfortable to walk on). Those little pebbles can come off and get into your pump and filter. Also, the colored and textured surface tends to hide dirt and stuff and can make it harder for your sweeper to get at it. Again, no personal experience but that's what I've heard. To me, a white plaster surface has a nice clean look, you can tell where the dirt is, and you get the classic blue water color. It's cheaper too.

I think I'm going to have an estimate done in a couple of weeks. I'll check back after they come out.

Thanks a bunch.

Good luck. The process is an adventure, from beginning to end, but well worth it IMO.

Mikey wrote:Good luck. The process is an adventure, from beginning to end, but well worth it IMO.

Especially if you have a bitch you want to get rid of.

Sincerely,
William Shatner

Pools are a lot like several other toys, for some people it’s great fun year after year, for others they find out its not really their cup of tea. We had one several years ago and for the first year or two we spent all of our free time at it. As the years went by we rarely use it and it turned into a hassle complete with heating bills and maintenance. Now boating is what makes us happy, been doing that for years and now we try to figure out how to get a bigger, better, faster boat as each year goes by. I also see the same thing there. People buy a boat thinking their summers will be fun and exciting, but the work and preparation it takes to go boating out weighed the enjoyment they were getting out of going boating. Guess what I am saying is…Unless you know for sure the pool will be used and enjoyed for several years I wouldn’t jump in to it. The only way you can sell it is to sell your house.
Good Luck and have fun!

I had a pool growing up and I want my kid to have the same luxury.

I remember how bummed all the other kids in the neighborhood that didn't have pools were. I just want my kid to have that built in fun.

We have two community pools in my subdivision but they're too crowded.

Rack Fu wrote:I'm definitely going with a gunite pool with a saline filtration system.

This seems to be the company that gets a lot of kudos in my neck of the woods: South Shore Pools .

Living in Houston, an obvious warm climate city, I'm not worried about covers and all of that. Pool water temps are in the 90's here from May-Sept. I'd like something that looks good... obviously. A nice patio/decking and whirlpool surrounding the pool. I'm not sold on waterfalls and rock slides and all of that. I'd like to have the bottom colored to get that Tidy Bowl blue look. Multi-colored lights and underwater sound system and all that other stuff doesn't interest me.

A pool like this looks nice as my backyard has a seemingly similar layout.

just get some LED lights for it like one of these beauties http://www.trinorthlighting.com/Photo%20Gallery.htm

Mikey knows his pools without a doubt, verrah sweet setup. Pools are awesome and here in the Valley quite plentiful.

Believe it or not Dinsdale, some of us folks with pools and have friends with pools, parents ect. actually know what the fuck we are doing.... Y a see we have these fences and gates and stuff, we always keep doors locked and stupid shit like that. Amazing enough learning to swim young is the norm down here unless "of course" you're an "immigrant". What's always interesting to note is how said "immigrants" of all ages migrate to coldest fastest moving sections of the rivers and deepest darkest lakes to take their first swimming lesson. Shit Happens.

Maybe we can help fix it by having the State run some TV Spots in 90 languages along with the usual idiot propaganda.

Dear Darwin Candidates,

"The middle of the river ISN'T the shallow part and lakes are bigger and deeper than rivers."
"This is what we call a "Floatation Device." It has been known to save people, especially people who "can't swim."
If you can't Swim and you still can't understand this suggestions??
"Stay away from the fucking water you pathetic douchebags!"



Look Dins, there's no damn way I would own a pool in Portland either but "Dead Babies?"

Kid drownings are pretty rare here, considering the amount of bodies of water available here all that means is we must be damn lucky or a Mega-Tsunami of drowned dead kids due to backyard inground swimming pools and spas is building just beyond the horizon......................

Pools are evil. Beware! Be Afraid!

People who have no kids (and have never had kids) dispensing parenting advice will never not be hilarious.

Y2K wrote:Look Dins, there's no damn way I would own a pool in Portland either but "Dead Babies?"

Yuk it up all you like, breeders.

ONCE AGAIN, what is the leading cause of "accidental death" in children under 5 in this country?


Oh...I guess I'm not just making shit up out of thin air then, am I?

And since I would take a guess that california probably has more pools per capita than any other state(not a stat, just a guess), apparently drowning deaths in small children are relatively common. But hey, don't let facts get in the way of your breeder arrogance.


But frankly -- although it's tragic when a child dies like that...it truly is Darwin having his way, albeit one generation too late.

Fu -

One thing that I neglected to mention. If you are serious about doing this, you need to get started ASAP. I went back today and looked at our documents, and we signed the contract on May 1 2000, thinking that it would be finished in a couple of months and we would get lots of great pool time over the summer. Well, there were several delays. The worst was that there were apparently only two local gunite subs that the builder dealt with (maybe only two in the entire area) and one machine was broke early that summer, so everybody got their schedules slipped. We had to deal with construction and a big hole in our back yard for the entire summer of 2000 (one really hot summer) and we didn't have a functional pool until October.

At that time, we had like one week of swimming before we basically shut it down for the winter. I did use the spa about 4 times a week for the first month, until we got our propane bill.

The point is, next summer may seem like a long time off right now, but you want to talk to more than one builder, evaluate your choices, and do what you think is best for your family and your landscape plans. These things take time. Take my word for it, though, if you decide to put this pool in you don't want to watch the construction all summer and then have to wait for 5 or 6 months before you can use the damn thing. Get your design choices done, get your estimates done early. You don't have to make a commitment yet, but be ready to get started before the end of the year.

The PL pool.

have 3 kids. gunite (sp) is the only way to go. they are constructed, not put together.
It has become a way of life for our family.

even though we live in the northeast, and we close it down for 5 months, I would bet we use our pool more in 5 monthgs than most southerners do in 12.

the hot tub/spa is a must.

we went with a brick patio and black chain link fence, limited the landscaping to a minimum.

we want to enjoy it maintance free as mush as possible.

I'm not sure about the salt/chlorine deal yet a friend just got it and he'll know better next year.

we went with the slide instead of a diving board. the deep end maxes at 7 foot. as most people hang in the shallow end, we wanted that part bigger.

we have in pool benches in the shallow and deep ends. nice touch.

we thought about boat but loading,unloading, packing and not living withing an hour of a quality lake, we opted for the back door. just our preference.

as for maintaing....I personally enjoy it.

keeping up on the water balance is a bit tricky and is a must.

Rack Fu wrote:Pool water temps are in the 90's here from May-Sept.

Check again. Our pool didn't hit 90 until July. Low 80s or upper 70s until around the end of May and then she slowly started creeping up. It should stay in the 90s or high 80s until atleast the middle of October. Last year we were comfortably still swimming close to Thanksgiving.

Also like Mikey said, EXPECT many delays with the contractors. They're nothing but a pain in the ass. If they say 6-8 weeks to finish, plan on 10-12.

Mikey wrote:Get a salt chlorination system. Adds some $$ to first cost (around $500 - $800) but you don't have to keep adding chemical chlorine, you never get the noxious chlorine odor or stinging eyes, and the water has a nice soft feel to it.

WeRd. Good shit.

The biggest problem we have with the pool are the waves. They got up and splash chlorinated water everywhere, but never get big enough for epic waveridding. I guess if I leave my socks on the patio and they get splashed, the cholrine and the sun will properly bleach them.

Rack Fu wrote:Pool water temps are in the 90's here from May-Sept.

Why don't you just buy a vat of chlorine to swim around in?

e wrote:

Dinsdale wrote:ONCE AGAIN, what is the leading cause of "accidental death" in children under 5 in this country?

motor vehicle accidents

Moral of the story -- if you hit 5 different internet sites, you'll get 5 different sets of "facts."

5 different sites? No thanks, I just need 2 sites to get all of my facts: .net and shutyomouth’s House of Melt.

Sincerely,

Drum and Drummer.

BWAHAHAHA, Rack Goobs.

PL, the black chain link fence is SHARP. My neighbor has a pool, but I really have no desire to have one here in Oregon.

A few years ago my neighbor went on vacation and said we could use the pool while they were gone. I went over there one sunny day and stripped down to my swimming trunks and laid on the chaise lounge. Next thing you know I'm being dragged into the water by the fuckers from GreenPeace.

Ever since Keiko left, they've been looking for a new attraction down in Newport. Fuck 'em.

Rip City

Luth,

Be sure to keep another eye out for your other neighbor, the one with the boat named 'Pequod'.

Luther wrote:A few years ago my neighbor went on vacation and said we could use the pool while they were gone. I went over there one sunny day and stripped down to my swimming trunks and laid on the chaise lounge. Next thing you know I'm being dragged into the water by the fuckers from GreenPeace.

Ever since Keiko left, they've been looking for a new attraction down in Newport. Fuck 'em.

Rip City

Rack.

Goober McTuber wrote:Drum and Drummer

Awwwwesome.

e wrote:the one fact they all share is that none of them listed drowning as the #1 cause of accidental death in children under five years of age.

Only reason I even went down that road, was because I thought I'd heard that statistic recently, and websearching to that æffect brought up a result that verified it.

Then again, I'm fairly sure a websearch would verify the fact that the moon is made of green cheese.

And as we all know...if you read it on the interwebs, it MUST be true.

Geez...I was just kidding...or so I thought.